Forum to tackle new tax

STOCKTON - A debate over the city's proposed tax increase, what officials consider the linchpin to the city's recovery, will take center stage Monday in a live forum featuring two opposing voices.

Comment

By Scott Smith

recordnet.com

By Scott Smith

Posted Oct. 6, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By Scott Smith
Posted Oct. 6, 2013 at 12:01 AM

If you go

The League of Women Voters of San Joaquin County will hold a forum on Measures A and B from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday in the fellowship hall at Stockton's Central United Methodist Church, 3700 Pacific ...

» Read more

X

If you go

The League of Women Voters of San Joaquin County will hold a forum on Measures A and B from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday in the fellowship hall at Stockton's Central United Methodist Church, 3700 Pacific Ave. The event is free and open to the public.

» Social News

STOCKTON - A debate over the city's proposed tax increase, what officials consider the linchpin to the city's recovery, will take center stage Monday in a live forum featuring two opposing voices.

City Manager Bob Deis and former state Assemblyman Dean Andal and others will answer questions in the event hosted by the League of Women Voters of San Joaquin County.

At issue are measures A and B, a 3/4-cent sales tax designed to fund Stockton's Marshall Plan on Crime and critical to the city's plan to exit bankruptcy.

The tax measures have created a divide between city officials, who say that without the tax increase Stockton's recovery is dubious, and some community members leery of the city's ability to spend taxpayers' money wisely.

"We need new taxes," Deis has said. "Without it, we're in trouble and that's Measure A. If Measure A does not pass, then Stockton is not a viable city again."

Andal represents residents who opposes the tax increase.

"This is a momentous decision for the city," Andal has said. "It doesn't solve the problem."

Two other panelists to weigh in will be Jeffrey Michael, director of the Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific and David Renison, president of the San Joaquin County Taxpayers Association.

These three have come out against Measure A. Deis is expected to be joined by a yet-to-be named advocate of the Yes on A & B campaign.

The forum comes about one month before the Nov. 5 election in which voters will decide the fate of the tax increase. Mail-in ballots should begin arriving Tuesday, San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters Austin Erdman said.

To win passage, the general tax requires just 50 percent of voters plus one.

Critics of the tax, such as Andal, believe that because the measure is a general tax, city leaders aren't bound to spend the money to hire police as promised. Stockton should learn its lessons from the past, which led Stockton to bankruptcy and high crime, Andal maintains.

Deis and City Council members included Measure B, which they say is non-binding but affirms that the tax will be spent on the Marshall Plan. Measure B calls for a sunset provision and an oversight committee.

Audience members will be allowed to submit written questions to the panelists.

The forum will be moderated by Gillian Murphy, dean of Applied Science, Business and Technology at San Joaquin Delta College. The forum is expected to last 90 minutes.